My daughter had a auto accident in Indiana and her insurance had ran out, can she go to jail for this? She has to go to court on 3-22-07 and I would like to know if I need to fly home to be with my grand=children. Thank you

Good grief, I hope not! That would certainly not be the case here in the UK.

How long was her insurance expired by? In the UK insurance companies usually give a grace-period of a couple of weeks.

To be honest I do not know how long her she had been with out insurance. Here in the US, the insurance companies also give a grace period. But now I am worried because I have heard she can do 3 or more days in jail for not having insurance when the accident happened. I do know the laws have changed,, but to what I do not know and can not find.

Wow.. that's a bizarre law.
It sounds like a very extreme measure to lock people up like that for a small offence,
A jail cell even for 3 days is pretty nasty - it seems very vindictive to me.

In the UK, you could possibly be jailed for persistently driving without insurance, but never for simply forgetting to renew your insurance.

If she was driving recklessly or caused an accident then she could certainly get in trouble for that - but the same would happen whether she had insurance or not.

Here is the description from the Indiana guide

FAILURE TO MEET AUTOMOBILE LIABILITY INSURANCE
REQUIREMENTS
Driving without a valid liability insurance policy in effect on the vehicle you are operating is
Against the law. Thousands of Indiana residents suffer bodily injuries or property damages yearly
Caused by persons without insurance coverage on their vehicles. All of us pay more for insurance
To cover the risk of being injured or suffering property damage caused by an uninsured motorist.
To attempt to deter uninsured motorists, Indiana law provides the following sanctions for
Operating a vehicle without the proper insurance:
• No Insurance
A person who operates a vehicle without an automobile liability insurance policy in effect is
Subject to a 90 day driver license suspension or a one year suspension if it is a repeat
violation in a three year period. In order to obtain a reinstatement of the license, the person
Must pay a reinstatement fee of $150, $225, or $300 depending on whether it is a first,
•
Operating a vehicle without insurance coverage is a Class A infraction. In addition, a person
Appearing in court on a traffic violation may be requested to prove he or she had insurance
Coverage on the date of the offense. This occurs in two types of instances:
“A” After an Accident
All accident information sent to the state police is sent to the BMV. If the insurance
Information is not provided by the insurance company to state police, a request for proof
Of financial responsibility (i.e. automobile liability insurance) in the form of a
“certificate of compliance” will be sent to the person’s address as shown on his or her
Official driving record. The person then must arrange for his or her insurance company
Agent to complete the information on the certificate and return the certificate to the BMV
Within 40days. Failure to return the certificate of compliance as required will result in the
License suspension described.
“B” After Certain Moving Violations
When the BMV receives a report from a court of a judgment or conviction for any
Moving violation for which points are assessed by the BMV. A certificate of compliance
Form is sent to the driver at the address shown on his or her official driving record in the
Following instances:
Second, third or subsequent offense, and provide current proof of insurance signed by an agent
When Proof of Insurance Coverage Must be Provided
Or representative of the insurance company.
72
• when the BMV receives notification of a moving traffic violation and points are
Assessed, and the driver has at least two other moving traffic violations on which
Points were assessed within a twelve-month period;
• when the moving violation is a felony or a misdemeanor
• when the driver has been previously suspended for failure to carry the proper
Insurance. The driver has the same 40 day period to have the information
Completed and returned to the BMV to avoid the suspension of his/hers drivers
License as previously described

OK, no, she will have large fines to pay, she will get her license suspended so she can't drive, she will have to pay large fees to get her license back, and normally have an expensive thing called a SR-22 filing for your insurance in the future, so that 50 dollar a month policy will most likely cost about 200 now.

The only time, and it only happened once that someone got jail time, we had a young man, who thought he was "Perry Mason" and was going to tell the judge that the fine was not constitutional, he got 2 days in jail for contempt of court, not for the no insurance

The only way she MIGHT be jailed is if she doesn't pay the fine. A judge will sometimes issue a sentence of 30 days or $300. But as long as she pays the fine there is no likelihood of jail time.

But she has much bigger worries. Like how is she going to get the kids to school or the doctor or wherever is her license is suspended? Or how is she going to pay the damages that resulted from the accident?

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